1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to portable camping equipment and more particularly to a chuckwagon camp box containing a portable, fully integrated kitchen used for cattle drives and roundups, military bivouacs, camping, picnics, barbecues and other activities and events at outdoor, undeveloped locations.
2. Related Art
During the regular activities of today""s ranches and farms there is a frequent need to prepare meals at remote outdoor locations where the amenities of a conventional kitchen are not available. Such amenities would normally include electric power, cooktops, ovens, dishwashers, and the myriad other modern day appliances. Similarly, outdoor cooking is needed for recreational camping, picnicking, barbecues, xe2x80x9ctailgatexe2x80x9d parties, military bivouacs and the like.
The ease and indeed pleasure of preparing and partaking of outdoor meals is often compromised by the difficulty and complexity of assembling the necessary equipment and supplies for preparing meals. It is usually difficult to locate, and always awkward to pack, the needed stove, pots and pans, coffeepot, plates, cups, utensils, napkins, and the variety of foods, ingredients and condiments. Once these supplies are located, then comes the task of packing them in various containers such as cardboard boxes, paper and plastic bags, plastic storage boxes and the like. With this mixture of types and sizes of containers it is difficult to pack them compactly and securely in the transport vehicle. Consequently the contents are likely to be damaged as they become loose and shift during transport over the typically rough terrain encountered during such enterprises.
Perhaps even more perplexing is the challenge of repacking these supplies and equipment after their use and prior to moving to the next location or returning home. One has to recall which container was originally used for each item and as everyone has experienced, what was once packed neatly in a container almost never fits when repacked.
As a result, there is a critical need for a system and equipment for compactly providing and securely transporting a portable kitchen. Such a kitchen must include all necessary cooking equipment and storage. It must be portable, ruggedly built, and as lightweight as possible, yet easy to setup and repack. After the equipment is set up for use it must be sturdy and stable. The kitchen food preparation and work surfaces must be at convenient height to facilitate kitchen functionality. Additionally these surfaces must be durable and easy to clean. The overall challenge in providing such a system is to optimize its utility and versatility with respect to its portability, size, weight, manufactureablity and cost.
Such a capability will substantially facilitate preparations for camping, picnicking and the like by thoroughly organizing the equipment and supplies. In effect a portable kitchen can serve as a physical xe2x80x9ccheck listxe2x80x9d of the equipment that is required for outdoor cooking. This not only assures that all needed equipment is available but that superfluous equipment is not packed. A further benefit is that when the portable kitchen is not being used it can serve to store most of the kitchen equipment that is typically used only for camping and picnicking.
As will be reviewed in the following paragraphs, various devices have been offered to achieve some of the above described capabilities and benefits. However, none fully meet these long felt needs as well as does the presently disclosed invention.
Hewitt (U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,664) discloses a portable kitchen having a countertop, sink, water faucet, drain, water pump, water supply tank, a stove unit, a xe2x80x9cmeans for supplying heat energyxe2x80x9d to the stove and miscellaneous storage areas. This seemingly complete kitchen unit suffers from a lack of compactness and less than complete packaging in that when prepared for transport the water faucet and sink are left unprotected. In addition, valuable space is used for the sink and water xe2x80x9csystemxe2x80x9d which is best provided separately to reduce the volume, weight and transportability of the unit. Also transporting any form of water system subjects the unit to excessive weight, and leakage and potential damage to other items being transported or stored.
Criswell (U.S. Pat. No. 3,543,890) offers a xe2x80x9cCamper Kitchenxe2x80x9d comprising shelves, storage and retractable legs. No cooking capability is provided and storage space and compartmentation is minimal.
Bernier (U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,529) describes a portable kitchen in a foldable xe2x80x9csuitcase likexe2x80x9d structure that includes storage, a sink, a stove, a water supply system, external xe2x80x9cwingsxe2x80x9d (work areas), and a plurality of retractable legs. The xe2x80x9cfoldablexe2x80x9d approach to the design of this kitchen detracts from its stability during use. In addition the support legs are stored outside the folded assembly thus exposing them to damage and or entanglement with other objects. The shortcomings with respect to incorporating a water supply system as described above for Criswell""s patent also apply to Bernier""s disclosure.
Myers (U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,554) presents a foldable kitchen unit that includes an icebox, cooking stove, wash basin, and storage compartments. The bumper of a station wagon or truck must support this unit. No support legs are provided. The use of this unique design is limited since it must be attached to the bumper of a stationwagon or truck.
Lee et.al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,708) disclose a kitchen sink unit comprising two work surfaces, hinged to fold on top of each other. One surface holds a dishwasher bucket, the other a detachable grille. No cooking or storage capability is provided and thus this patent does not meet the minimum requirements for a portable kitchen.
Peterson et. al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,157) discloses a portable kitchen having a table, detachable sink and storage compartments. The unit has no integral cooking capability. The unit is made from a plastic material and folds compactly into a box. The lid of the box serves alternatively as a sink or stand for the main storage box. However, to position the work surfaces at a convenient height, it must be placed on a suitable table or elevated in some other fashion.
Dany (U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,400) has invented a portable camp kitchen having a xe2x80x9ccookerxe2x80x9d unit (cooktop burners), a telescopic lighting means, and storage. The unit folds into its own box shaped container after first telescoping the light into its storage location. Although providing many features similar to the extant invention, Dany does not offer a comparable variety and extent of storage compartments and work surfaces. In addition Dany does not offer convenient, waist high storage or windscreen capabilities.
The camp box/portable kitchen described herein is an optimum design of the key required kitchen capabilities innovatively constructed and packaged into a portable, compact, rugged and yet light weight unit. In its transport and storage configuration the unit forms a smooth, box like container free of entangling protuberances. A plurality of lifting and transport aids are also provided. When the unit is to be set up as a kitchen, it is simple and quick to unfold and/or set up into a sturdy, fully capable and easy to use kitchen assembly.
In summary, none of the known portable kitchens include the unique and innovative combination of structural and operational features and benefits of the invention disclosed herein.
As can be clearly seen from the preceding review of the prior related art, there is a long standing need for a readily portable kitchen that provides for storage, cooking, dishwashing and clean up in a compact, rugged and easily set up unit. As described, numerous attempts have been made to accomplish these objectives, with varying degrees of success. Often a potential improvement in any one aspect of the kitchen, for example inclusion of an integral water supply, tends to increase the overall weight beyond acceptable limits and introduces new problems, for example potential water leakage.
Also, in trying to achieve these sometimes conflicting objectives, the approach becomes overly sophisticated leading to more difficult fabrication techniques, expensive components, and increased weight and set up complexity. The invention described herein optimizes the performance of the portable kitchen in the areas of portability, compactness, weight, and overall capability to meet key kitchen requirements at remote locations. This design with its innovative packaging scheme and rugged construction form a highly effective kitchen system.
The camp box of this invention includes a portable kitchen comprised of a top lid, drop down front and rear shelves, each of which is separately hinged to a base unit. The underside of the base unit has provisions to removably attach the support legs, or to permanently attach folding legs. The underside of the base unit also is provided with a plurality of casters to facilitate transport of the camp box.
The base unit also includes an integral cooktop and a plurality of work surfaces, multi-purpose compartments and at least one utility/utensil drawer. Extendable, multi-purpose racks may be withdrawn from both ends of the base unit to serve as towel racks or supports for shelves with the attachment of the included covering trays for shelf tops. The drop-down front and rear shelves are separated by an upstanding transverse panel in the box, so that the front and rear shelves, when down in their opened-for-use position, are functionally isolated from one another by the transverse panel. This way, cooking oils and ashes from the cooktop available from the front shelf do not so readily contaminate or interfere with a washing station conveniently placed on the back shelf. Also this way, especially when the top lid is hinged at the top of the upstanding panel, and adapted to temporarily lock in the vertical position there, the upstanding panel and the vertical top lid serve as an effective windbreak for the cooktop.